Beautiful Data
Too often—in fact, most of the time—well-designed software is thought to be software that is visually appealing: cleanly designed forms, consistent and purposeful application of colors and fonts, slick buttons, and neat animations that slide menus open and expand and contract directory structures. To think of these aesthetic treatments as genuine design advances is like putting lipstick on the proverbial pig.
Not long ago I was amazed to discover that a well-known system that has the reputation of being one of the most notoriously hard to use enterprise systems on the market boasted of having a user interface designed by one of the world’s most famous design firms. It seemed implausible, but when I visited that design firm’s web site, I saw that it was true. A page described how the company had designed the user interface of the enterprise system. On closer examination, what was described was the design firm’s involvement in choosing the color palette, drawing sets of tab controls, buttons, and icons, and formatting the display characteristics. This is not user interface design. This is the simplest form of graphic design, a cosmetic makeover within an electronic display. Unless the designer is concerned with the sequencing of these controls, the language of the user interface, the navigation of the environment, and the ability of the user to learn and adopt the tool quickly and effectively, little more has been done than to supply handsome graphics and perhaps descriptions for their continued use.
The software developer that commissioned that design for its enterprise system undoubtedly made the investment with high hopes, but there may have been a basic misunderstanding about what would be delivered: an appealing graphic design or an appealing user interface design that would make the system’s remarkable technology more accessible.
The look and feel of technology is commonly confused with its usability. The look of a display is important, but it represents just a small fraction of a system’s design, and elaborate graphics can even interfere with the messages. We don’t need business systems with prettier palettes; we need systems that reflect an understanding of the business and a projection of that business in a way that is easily accessible to everyone who uses the system.
Good design supports and enhances the functions of a product, but decoration, no matter how skillfully executed, is superficial. A business system brings success to an organization only when it satisfies the men and women who are striving to be successful as individuals.
— Excerpted from Wrench in the System: What’s sabotaging your business software and how you can release the power to innovate . by Harold Hambrose (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York). Order your copy of this book.
